]]>ST. PAUL — Charlie Coyle isn’t a bad hockey player by any means, but there are many nights when you watch the 6-foot-3, 220-pound winger and wonder what happened to the guy we expected to turn into a dominant power forward.

In many ways, the 26-year-old is the Wild’s version of Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins has performances like he did on Wednesday night for the Timberwolves against New Orleans (23 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals) and you’re left baffled about where that player is on the many evenings that Wiggins either seems uninspired or uninterested. It’s far too often that you watch the Wild and realize you never noticed Coyle.

And then there are nights like Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

With Zach Parise sick at home, Coyle was moved from the Wild’s third line to the second line with Mikko Koivu at center and Nino Niederreiter (who also has disappeared far too often this season but scored a goal Thursday) on the left wing.

Coyle entered the game with only two goals on the season and having failed to score in the past 10. That changed when Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin flipped a pass that came down in the slot not far from Canucks goalie Richard Bachman. Bachman, for unknown reasons, did not attempt to come out and poke the puck away and Coyle picked it up, made a move on Bachman and scored on a backhand shot.

You could see Coyle’s confidence instantly skyrocket and suddenly the puck was finding his stick and so were the scoring chances. A Canucks turnover nearly resulted in another Coyle goal but this time he was stopped by Bachman. Coyle finished the first period with a team-leading three shots and that number stood at five through two periods of what became an easy 6-2 Wild victory over a road-weary Canucks team that was completing a six-game road trip that ended with three regulation defeats.

“I though the first period especially was really good,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said of Coyle’s game. “I think he had three or four shots in the first period. He doesn’t usually shoot so when he shoots. … His speed got him the first goal; I thought he could have had a couple more.”

When asked if that’s the type of response Boudreau wanted to see when he elected to have Coyle replace Parise on the Koivu line, Boudreau said: “That’s the kind of response you want when you haven’t scored goals in 10 games, too.”

Coyle finished with a team-high six shots.

“Sometimes it comes in bunches, sometimes you’re doing the right thing and it doesn’t come,” said Coyle, whom the Wild acquired from San Jose in the Brent Burns trade in 2011. “Hockey’s a weird sport, but you just focus on doing what made you successful as a player and what’s going to help your linemates. That’s all I’m trying to do. If it goes in it goes in and you feel good. If it doesn’t you keep working for it and that’s all you can do.”

So will Coyle’s success on Thursday lead to more goals or is another dry spell right around the corner? It’s certainly fair to expect more from Coyle in the goal-scoring department, even when he is back on the third line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway. That is likely to happen on Saturday against Buffalo when Parise is expected to return from his illness.

Remember, Coyle is in year four of a five-year, $16 million contract that he signed in October 2014. The following season, Coyle rewarded the Wild with a career-high 21 goals and the season after he had 18 goals and a career-best 56 points. Coyle also had turned into something of an ironman by playing in all 82 regular-season games for three consecutive years.

But that ended last season when Coyle broke his leg in only the third game in Chicago and he missed 16 games. He played in 66 games and had only 11 goals and 37 points. Following the Wild’s first-round playoff loss to Winnipeg, Coyle had surgery on both wrists.

That led to the feeling that Coyle would be ready to rebound in a big way this season but statistically that hasn’t happened. The feeling now is that if the Wild is going to have a dominant power forward type it’s going to be Greenway.

Coyle scored his first goal of the season in the Wild’s fourth game against Carolina, went three more games before scoring again and then went into the prolonged goal-scoring drought that ended Thursday. He did have seven assists to go along with his two goals in 18 games and was a plus-4 so it wasn’t as if Coyle was awful. It’s just that he hasn’t always been that noticeable.

It has been suggested from this space that Coyle might benefit from a change of scenery but new general manager Paul Fenton has wanted to take a long look at guys like Coyle. On Thursday, Fenton had to like what he saw from not only Coyle but also Niederreiter, who got only his second goal of the season when he scored off a Koivu feed on a second-period power play.

“It helps, you score and you feel good about yourself,” Coyle said. “I think if you’re doing the right things and you get those chances you feed off of that. I think for me when I get in the game physically and throw a hit, get hit, whatever, get the chances, it really helps.”

The Wild need Coyle to start doing all of the above far more frequently.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/zulgad-inconsistent-coyle-shows-still-ability-make-difference/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/zulgad-inconsistent-coyle-shows-still-ability-make-difference/(Lou Nanne Podcast) I’d rather have the Wild at the X over the North Stars at Target Center (ep. 6)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/3IrvnTNTIM4/
http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/11/lou-nanne-podcast-id-rather-wild-x-north-stars-target-center-ep-6/#respondThu, 15 Nov 2018 19:50:22 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=459943Lou Nanne talks about the passing of Bob Naegele Jr., the first owner of the Minnesota Wild, and those who played a key role in getting an NHL franchise back in the Twin Cities. As…

]]>Lou Nanne talks about the passing of Bob Naegele Jr., the first owner of the Minnesota Wild, and those who played a key role in getting an NHL franchise back in the Twin Cities. As much as Louie loved the North Stars, find out why he has no regrets that the franchise didn’t end up in Target Center. Also, Lou shares his frustrations about how much goaltenders are protected these days and gives his biggest surprise and disappointment in the NHL thus far.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/11/lou-nanne-podcast-id-rather-wild-x-north-stars-target-center-ep-6/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/11/lou-nanne-podcast-id-rather-wild-x-north-stars-target-center-ep-6/Goal posts: Give Dubnyk some rest alreadyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/35139aqh0f4/
http://www.1500espn.com/wild-2/2018/11/goal-posts-give-dubnyk-rest-already/#respondThu, 15 Nov 2018 02:52:03 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=459911By Lindsey Brown *Lindsey Brown is a former college goaltender for THE Ohio State and Saint Anselm College. She was raised on the very Minnesota pond water that gets tossed on the ice before every…

*Lindsey Brown is a former college goaltender for THE Ohio State and Saint Anselm College. She was raised on the very Minnesota pond water that gets tossed on the ice before every Wild game. You can find her at Wild games or somewhere watching hockey and drinking a Diet Coke. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyBrown35*

The art of the goaltending rotation

Let’s keep it simple. Devan Dubnyk is playing far too many minutes so far this season. I know, I can hear most of you now, “LB, what’re you talking about. Dubnyk is killin’ it, he’s playing some of the best hockey of his career.”

TRUST ME, I KNOW.

That’s why so many coaches across all levels of hockey struggle with the concept of proper goaltender rotation. Dubnyk was acquired by the Wild via trade in January of 2014–15 season. From the beginning of the 2014-15 season through today, Dubnyk has started 257 games and logged 15, 244 minutes. Only two other goaltenders have seen more ice time in that span, Braden Holtby of the Capitals (GS: 269, TOI: 15,557) and Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators (GS: 259, TOI: 15, 319).

So far this season, the Minnesota Wild have started Dubnyk in 14 games this season, backup netminder Alex Stalock has started the other four games. After wrapping up their seven-game road trip (the longest in franchise history) with a win in St. Louis on Sunday, the Wild decided to start Dubnyk against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals Tuesday night. Dubnyk, at times, looked physically and mentally gassed during the 5-2 loss, however it certainly would’ve helped if his teammates had provided some semblance of defensive support in the loss.

The “ride or die” attitude that the Minnesota Wild have employed with Dubnyk has worked in the past, but the now 32-year-old netminder is starting to show just how many butterflies he’s done over the course of his career.

My general rule of thumb when it comes to goaltending rotation is “for every two (starts), there’s one for you.” In layman’s terms, for every two games Dubnyk starts, Stalock should get one. But as most of us know, goalies have a reputation of being SLIGHTLY sensitive to pretty much everything and Dubnyk is no exception to that theory. As a former goaltender, I think it’s best to give Dubs a game off on a more frequent basis, especially with Stalock playing as well as he has been. I may be right, I may be wrong, but either way it’s something to keep an eye on.

______________________

Shoot for the Moon even when no one thinks you’re a star

The Minnesota Wild faced the reigning Stanley Cup Champions Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. Fortunately, the timing of the first of two match ups between the Caps and Wild could not work out better. TheCapitals captured their first title in franchise history last season after YEARS of disappointing early playoff exits. Sound familiar?

So how exactly do the Wild compare to the 2017-18 Washington Capitals?

Heading into the 19th game of this season theWild are 11-5-2.

The Washington Capitals were 10-7-1 at this point last year in their run to lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Are the Minnesota Wild on a similar trajectory to that of the Stanley Cup champions last season? Yes.

Are the Minnesota Wild capable of making a run through the playoffs with a shot to hoist the greatest trophy in sports? Absolutely.

Do I think that this is the year that the Minnesota Wild finally make a legitimate run at the Stanley Cup? Absolutely not.

It’s a negative outlook from my end right now, but that doesn’t mean my assessment is correct or set in stone. At this point last year, I’m sure many Caps-coverin’ journalists and fans didn’t feel particularly optimistic about their squad’s chances of beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in a playoff series let alone winning the Stanley Cup. It’s November so there is PLENTY of season to unfold but I find it difficult to imagine this Wild club as a legitimate threat to knock of the likes of Winnipeg and/or Nashville before even reaching the Stanley Cup Final. For now, all they can do is beat the teams they’re supposed to and hope to hockey gods above that everyone stays healthy. That’s not too much to ask for, right?

_____________________________________

Weekly Player Grades as told by GIFS & Uber Ratings

On a weekly basis I will sort each active player for the Minnesota Wild into one of three categories that describe how I think they’re playing.

5 Stars (Killin’ It)

Marcus Foligno – This guy is the heart and soul of the Wild right now. His heavyweight bought against Washington’s Tom “Cheaper than Marchand” Wilson was one of the few bright spots of the 5-2 loss on Tuesday. He leads the team with 21 PIM and has been dynamic at times especially with Eric Fehr as his centerman.

Nick Seeler – So far he has been my favorite player to watch this season. I think Nick Seeler is going to be a big part of this franchise’s future. His 1990s-esque physicality provides the Wild defensive core with some much-needed teeth. I think he would be a great option running point on the power play in place of Ryan Suter.

3 Stars (Ehhhhhh)

Jason Zucker – Over the last 11 games, Zucker has registered two goals and five assists. Zucker’s semi-coldish streak has flown under the radar largely due to the Wild finding scoring elsewhere. He’s not playing poorly but sometimes it seems like he disappears. Zucker’s game starts with his success on the forecheck so the Wild may want to look into getting him involved in that aspect of the game earlier. Consistent playing time with Granlund will allow him to utilize his speed and play in his natural opportunistic style. I’m not worried, but I’m not excited.

1 Star (Did you puke in the car?)

Nino Niederreiter – Nino is having a pretty tough time finding his game so far this season. He scored his first goal of the season just last week and has a team worst -7 +/- rating. I don’t think the Wild can leave him on the power play in effort to jumpstart his scoring touch for much longer. Every hockey player goes through streaks where everything goes to hell but something might be gained in moving him down the depth chart and into the trenches with Foligno and Fehr. Throwing his weight around with those two could offer Nino the opportunity to rediscover his game but more importantly allow him to knock some of his bad hockey juju into other players in a different sweater.

LOOK AT MY MASK

FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS ORIGINAL MASTERPIECE.

For those of you that have no idea what they’re looking at… I don’t think we can be friends.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/wild-2/2018/11/goal-posts-give-dubnyk-rest-already/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/wild-2/2018/11/goal-posts-give-dubnyk-rest-already/Zulgad: Don’t worry, be happy: Rare loss at X is no cause for concern for Wildhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/jRKFJneMwLU/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/zulgad-dont-worry-happy-rare-loss-x-no-cause-concern-wild/#respondWed, 14 Nov 2018 05:14:15 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=459868ST. PAUL — There was a time when the Wild’s 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at Xcel Energy Center might have caused some angst for the home team. Players would have been left searching…

]]>ST. PAUL — There was a time when the Wild’s 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at Xcel Energy Center might have caused some angst for the home team. Players would have been left searching for answers, while coach Bruce Boudreau attempted to hide his disgust.

But that was not the case on Tuesday night in downtown St. Paul. Yes, the Wild lost by three goals to the defending Stanley Cup champions and didn’t come close to playing their best game, but the fact the Wild just picked up 10 of a possible 14 points on a seven-game road trip and entered Tuesday with the second-most points in the Western Conference and third-most points in the NHL made it difficult for anyone to get overly upset about a mid-November loss.

“You get spoiled,” a relaxed Boudreau said after seeing the first NHL team he coached jump to a 3-0 lead before adding two third-period goals. “They weren’t as good as they were for the last 12 games. For whatever reason … people say, ‘that’s the first game when you get home.’ I don’t believe any of that stuff. We just weren’t that sharp. The passes weren’t tape-to-tape, they were bouncing. Some guys were not as good as I expected them to be. It’s a weird thing because I thought we played as good as them but they are the best team in the league scoring off the rush and they proved it again tonight.”

The Capitals have been disappointing so far this season. They came into the game with 17 points, putting them five points behind first-place Columbus in the Metropolitan Division but only four points ahead of last-place New Jersey. Wednesday’s effort provided evidence that the Caps are starting to recover from their Stanley Cup hangover. Anyone who watched Alex Ovechkin do a keg stand out of the Cup last spring knew it would take this team sometime to round into playing form.

The Wild, meanwhile, had made an impressive recovery after looking old, slow and lost in opening the season 1-2-2. The Wild rebounded after that start for a 2-1 victory over Arizona on Oct. 16 at Xcel Energy Center and was 10-2 since that time entering Tuesday.

The Wild got off to a slow start against the Capitals but that’s nothing new for a team that often starts slowly at home but rarely loses on home ice. Wednesday’s setback was the first regulation defeat for Minnesota at home this season, making it the last NHL team to lose in regulation on home ice. The Wild are 21-3-8 at the X since last Christmas and two of the regulation defeats have come against the Capitals. The other was to Colorado last March 13.

Washington took a 1-0 lead at 6 minutes, 33 seconds of the opening period on the first of two goals by defenseman Dmitry Orlov and went up 2-0 lead late in the period when Wild defenseman Ryan Suter pushed the Caps’ Tom Wilson into Devan Dubnyk and the puck ended up behind the Wild goalie. Wilson, who was making his season debut after an arbitrator reduced his 20-game preseason suspension to 14 games, ended up with a goalie interference penalty but that didn’t erase the goal because the puck went into the net before Wilson hit Dubnyk.

Dubnyk stayed in the game despite being shaken and gave up a third goal, this time by Andre Burakovsky, at 3:13 of the second period. The Wild hit two posts in the first period behind Washington goalie Pheonix Copley, but Minnesota did not score until Mikko Koivu picked off an errant Caps pass in the slot and put it past Copley to make it 3-1 at 11:57 of the second.

The Wild’s Marcus Foligno then picked a fight with Wilson before the ensuing faceoff and the announced crowd of 19,101 went nuts after the two threw a flurry of haymakers. It appeared the momentum might change — and the Wild had several good chances late in the second period — but Orlov’s second goal at 7:23 of the third seemed to end any chance of a Wild rally.

“They know how to hold onto leads,” Wild winger Zach Parise said. “As good as they are offensively, they can shut it down too and protect the lead so it was a little too much for us to climb back into.”

Dubnyk, who gave up five goals on 33 shots, said he thought the Wild “did a lot of good things,” and said anything that went wrong can be easily fixed. “For the most part we played extremely well,” he said.

“We definitely didn’t play as well as we’ve played,” Boudreau said. “That’s not alarming, but it’s disappointing.”

But with five of their next six games at home it definitely did not seem like cause for concern for anyone employed by the Wild on Tuesday night.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/zulgad-dont-worry-happy-rare-loss-x-no-cause-concern-wild/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/zulgad-dont-worry-happy-rare-loss-x-no-cause-concern-wild/Original Wild owner Bob Naegele Jr. dies at 78http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/pWuxn2IpD3E/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/original-wild-owner-bob-naegele-jr-dies-78/#respondThu, 08 Nov 2018 17:37:33 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=459625Robert O. Naegele Jr., who played an instrumental role in bringing the NHL back to the Twin Cities as the first owner of the Minnesota Wild, died Wednesday night in the Twin Cities due to…

]]>Robert O. Naegele Jr., who played an instrumental role in bringing the NHL back to the Twin Cities as the first owner of the Minnesota Wild, died Wednesday night in the Twin Cities due to complications of cancer. Naegele was 78.

The team plans to honor Naegele with a moment of silence before its next home game on Nov. 13 against the Washington Capitals. The Wild also will wear a patch with the initials BN on their jerseys for the remainder of this season, starting with Thursday’s game against the Kings in Los Angeles.

Minnesota lost its first NHL franchise, the North Stars, after the 1992-93 season when Norm Green moved the Bloomington, Minn.-based team to Dallas.

Naegele, who was born in Minnesota, was the goalie on the Minnetonka High School hockey team. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1961 and was married to his wife, Ellis, for 58 years, raising three daughters and a son together. The Naegeles relocated to Naples, Fla., in 1994 but he eventually became the lead investor in a group that made a bid to get an NHL team back in the Twin Cities.

The group was awarded an expansion franchise to play in St. Paul on June 25, 1997 and the Wild played their first regular-season game on Oct. 11, 2000 in the new Xcel Energy Center.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our much-loved ‘Pop,'” Bob Naegele III said of his father in a statement. “While he had many professional and business successes in his life, the pinnacle for him was to play his part in bringing an NHL team back to the State of Hockey. The Minnesota Wild was never about him. Mom and Pop were happily on the beach in Florida enjoying the start of retirement in 1997 when the opportunity arose to bring an NHL franchise back to Minnesota.

“When (NHL Commissioner) Gary Bettman said, ‘We love your market and your investor group, we never wanted to leave Minnesota, but I need one person I can call when I need to get decisions made,’ Pop stepped forward and said, ‘OK, I will do it.’ From day one, for him, it was all about the fans and the amazing Minnesota hockey heritage. It is a testament for how he lived his life.”

Naegele Jr. served as chairman of Minnesota Sports & Entertainment (MSE) and was the majority owner of the Wild until the NHL Board of Governors approved current owner Craig Leipold’s purchase of the team on April 10, 2008.

“From the first time that I met Bob, when we were both introduced as new NHL owners that summer of ’97, I was impressed by his passion for the game and his love of his home state,” Leipold said in a statement. “A piece of his heart and soul will remain forever as a part of the Wild. We will honor that. My family and I are so fortunate to have the chance to build on the great foundation he established here.”

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/original-wild-owner-bob-naegele-jr-dies-78/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/original-wild-owner-bob-naegele-jr-dies-78/(Lou Nanne Podcast) Three Stanley Cups not enough for you Chicago? (ep. 5)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/0ybAfapz4F8/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/11/lou-nanne-podcast-three-stanley-cups-not-enough-chicago-ep-5/#respondTue, 06 Nov 2018 19:54:37 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=459555Lou Nanne reacts to the Blackhawks’ decision to fire three-time Stanley Cup winning coach Joel Quenneville and points to a few spots where Quenneville might next find work. The former North Stars general manager also…

]]>Lou Nanne reacts to the Blackhawks’ decision to fire three-time Stanley Cup winning coach Joel Quenneville and points to a few spots where Quenneville might next find work. The former North Stars general manager also talks about why teams make in-season coaching changes. Louie gives his thoughts on the Wild’s hot streak and why things have changed for Minnesota after a slow start.

]]>Lou Nanne tells us why Wild coach Bruce Boudreau continues to have success behind the bench and why Louie did not enjoy being behind the bench. The Minnesota hockey legend also discusses why coaches and officials no longer argue — the reason will surprise you — and recalls former NHL President John Ziegler, who recently passed away at the age of 84.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/11/lou-nanne-podcast-11-1-makes-bruce-boudreau-good-coach/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/11/lou-nanne-podcast-11-1-makes-bruce-boudreau-good-coach/Zulgad: Always unpredictable Wild now surging after feeble openinghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/MEt13pTGZnQ/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-always-unpredictable-wild-now-surging-feeble-opening/#respondSun, 28 Oct 2018 05:56:06 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=459114ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild spent the first five games of the season looking slow, old, disinterested and in jeopardy of being very easy to ignore. The Wild had one win in that time…

]]>ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Wild spent the first five games of the season looking slow, old, disinterested and in jeopardy of being very easy to ignore. The Wild had one win in that time and was sitting on four points only because goalie Devan Dubnyk was literally saving them on a nightly basis.

An extremely negative column was written about the Wild’s poor start following a 5-4 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes two weeks ago at Xcel Energy Center and two days later the Wild’s woes continued with a 4-2 defeat in Nashville. Nearly every team the Wild played seemed to have superior speed and considering the importance of that asset in today’s game it appeared to be a potential death knell.

But there was one very important thing forgotten in trying to dismiss this team before it had basically gotten started: This is the Wild and, during the regular season at least, they are going to do their best to do the unexpected.

Get your hopes up, and they will disappoint you. Give up on them, and they will rally like no other.

Perhaps then it should come as no surprise that the Wild’s 3-2 victory over division-rival Colorado on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center extended their winning streak to five games. The Avalanche entered Saturday tied with Nashville for first place in the extremely competitive Central Division.

The Wild is now 6-2-2 with 14 points, putting them two points behind Colorado and Nashville, a point behind the Winnipeg Jets and tied with the Chicago Blackhawks.

“I think (the winning streak) is critical because other than tonight no teams in the Central usually lose,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “(Saturday) was one of those rare nights where we actually pick up ground on teams.”

In addition to the Wild beating Colorado, Edmonton beat Nashville, Toronto beat Winnipeg and St. Louis beat Chicago in a divisional matchup.

Led by one of the NHL’s best lines in Nathan Mackinnon between Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, the speedy Avalanche are the exact type of team that appeared capable of giving the Wild major problems only a few weeks back. That was the case when Colorado opened the regular season with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Wild on Oct. 4.

But after the Avalanche took a 1-0 lead in the first period Saturday on a goal by defenseman Mark Barberio, the Wild rallied to tie it in the second period on a Mikael Granlund shot that beat Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov from a sharp angle 2 seconds after a penalty on Colorado expired. Eric Staal broke the tie in the third period by burying a shot from the slot off a nice pass from Granlund on the power play.

The Wild took a two-goal lead on Jonas Brodin’s clear from his own end that found an empty net with Colorado already on the power play. The Avs, who beat Ottawa on Friday night in Colorado, scored with 41.1 seconds left in the third period on Landeskog’s goal but the Wild were able to hold on.

Boudreau credited with the defensive pairing of Jared Spurgeon and Brodin with doing an excellent job against the Mackinnon line. The Wild also finished with the advantage in special-teams play, getting a power-play goal on five opportunities and killing off all six of the Avs’ power-play chances.

“I was really happy after the first period,” Boudreau said. “I thought that we played a really good team and they might have been a little tired but we didn’t give them a lot, which is really good.”

The Wild’s success on home ice is nothing new. They are the only team in the league without a regulation loss at home this season and are now 23-3-8 (including playoffs) at Xcel Energy Center since last Christmas.

So have the Wild turned a corner? It has to be encouraging to general manager Paul Fenton and Boudreau to see guys like Granlund and Charlie Coyle (back at center) playing better and to see the fourth-line of Eric Fehr, Marcus Foligno and J.T. Brown generating chances. Put these things together with Dunbyk continuing to be one of the NHL’s top goalies early in the season and things look far better than they did a couple of weeks ago.

But the Wild is about to get a major test beginning on Monday night as they begin a seven-game trip that will include stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, St. Louis, San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim before a return trip to St. Louis.

“It depends on how you look at it,” Boudreau said when asked about the difficulty of this trip. “We dissect it in that after two games we come home. Then we go to St. Louis and come home and then we have a four-game road trip. So we’re looking at it as a two-game road trip, and hopefully that makes it not as daunting as, ‘Oh man, seven games in seven tough buildings.'”

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-always-unpredictable-wild-now-surging-feeble-opening/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-always-unpredictable-wild-now-surging-feeble-opening/Lou Nanne Podcast: Should Stalock be the Wild’s OT goalie?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/gUvefyDb8AI/
http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-podcast-ep-3-stalock-wilds-ot-goalie/#respondThu, 25 Oct 2018 18:43:09 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=459005What does Lou Nanne think of Judd’s idea to use Alex Stalock as the Wild’s goalie in 3-on-3? Which North Stars goalie might have been the best handling the puck? Who would start for the…

]]>What does Lou Nanne think of Judd’s idea to use Alex Stalock as the Wild’s goalie in 3-on-3? Which North Stars goalie might have been the best handling the puck? Who would start for the North Stars if 3-on-3 overtime existed back in the day and what does Lou think of offside challenges? Find out in this episode of the Louie Podcast, and also hear his favorite story about former teammate J.P. Parise.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-podcast-ep-3-stalock-wilds-ot-goalie/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-podcast-ep-3-stalock-wilds-ot-goalie/Zulgad: The case for making Alex Stalock the Wild’s overtime goaliehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/91v3WWrTKzE/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-case-making-alex-stalock-wilds-overtime-goalie/#respondMon, 22 Oct 2018 19:14:50 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=458897Devan Dubnyk has been outstanding for the Wild this season. He ranks in the top five among NHL goalies in save percentage (.944) and his goals-against average (2.11) puts him in the top 10. Dubnyk’s…

]]>Devan Dubnyk has been outstanding for the Wild this season. He ranks in the top five among NHL goalies in save percentage (.944) and his goals-against average (2.11) puts him in the top 10. Dubnyk’s 24 saves in the second period on Friday in Dallas was the only reason the Wild were able to beat the Stars.

But despite his early-season brilliance, there is a case to be made that there are times when it might be a good idea to pull Dubnyk. Before you accuse me of having lost my mind, hear me out on this. The idea came Saturday as the Wild rallied for a 5-4 overtime victory over Tampa Bay at Xcel Energy Center.

Dubnyk’s backup, Alex Stalock, got the start with the Wild playing a back-to-back and for anyone who watched the 3-on-3 overtime period you saw exactly how dangerous Stalock can be with the puck. If you didn’t, here’s a look at the winning goal by Mikael Granlund that included a second assist from Stalock.

So what if Stalock became the Wild’s overtime goalie? This isn’t looking to embarrass Dubnyk and I’m not denying that when he’s playing well he’s fantastic. But Stalock’s ability to move the puck essentially makes him a third defenseman, and a fourth skater in an overtime system that is all about possession and moving the puck quickly would be invaluable.

Dubnyk’s strength is staying in the crease and making saves — the fact he’s 6-foot-6, 210 pounds makes it more difficult for him to move easily outside the crease — while the 6-foot, 187-pound Stalock is more mobile.

We all know that overall team speed isn’t a strength of this Wild team so anything that can get them moving the other way in the highly-skilled 3-on-3 format is a good thing. Stalock not only did that on Saturday night, but he did it by killing what would have been an icing on the Lightning in order to play the puck to Granlund.

That seems like the type of move that could get a guy into trouble, until you realize that Stalock knew exactly what he was doing and was rewarded for it. “It’s 3-on-3 and if we can get an odd-man rush, we have to do it, I think, because we’re creating an odd-man chance versus getting a faceoff in their zone,” Stalock told The Athletic after the game. “I’d take an odd-man rush over an offensive-zone faceoff any day. It worked out.”

The suggestion that the Wild might want to consider bringing Stalock off the bench for the five-minute, 3-on-3 session was met with skepticism by those who pointed out that he would be coming into the game cold and that such a move wouldn’t make sense. I’m guessing Wild coach Bruce Boudreau would be first in line among those who hate this idea.

There was a time I would have agreed with the naysayers but sports are evolving like never before and outside-the-box thinking is becoming the norm. Before this season had anyone thought it would become the norm to use an “opener” to start a baseball game and then have the regular starter replace him?

Would bringing in Stalock to replace Dubnyk for overtime initially be met with raised eyebrows? Absolutely. Could Stalock let in a soft goal or make a mistake with the puck? Yep. Would the fact he would have to find a way to warmup beforehand be an issue? Maybe.

Nonetheless, if the move worked, if it got the Wild a few extra points in the extremely competitive Western Conference it would end up looking extremely astute. After what we saw from Stalock on Saturday, it certainly looks like it would be worth a shot.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-case-making-alex-stalock-wilds-overtime-goalie/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-case-making-alex-stalock-wilds-overtime-goalie/Lou Nanne Podcast: Who owns the North Stars nickname?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/DY9nNhTrhVs/
http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-podcast-episode-ii-owns-north-stars-nickname/#respondThu, 18 Oct 2018 22:31:34 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=458413Lou Nanne tells a little-known fact about the North Stars name, gives us a few former North Stars who would thrive in today’s NHL, discusses whether it’s fair to compare players from different eras and…

]]>Lou Nanne tells a little-known fact about the North Stars name, gives us a few former North Stars who would thrive in today’s NHL, discusses whether it’s fair to compare players from different eras and gives a plan for how hockey on TV could be improved. Join Louie and Judd Zulgad for the second Lou Nanne podcast.

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-podcast-episode-ii-owns-north-stars-nickname/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-podcast-episode-ii-owns-north-stars-nickname/Zulgad: Slow, old and in big trouble? Wild’s poor start is reason to sound alarmhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/rpRFtoibwzU/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-slow-old-big-trouble-wild-look-washed-team/#respondSun, 14 Oct 2018 15:23:54 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=457872When does a small sample size become a troubling trend? That’s the question the Minnesota Wild faced on Saturday night after giving up a franchise-record 57 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss to Carolina at…

That’s the question the Minnesota Wild faced on Saturday night after giving up a franchise-record 57 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss to Carolina at Xcel Energy Center. Only four games into the season the Wild look slow, old and only capable of being a competitive team for minutes at a time.

The first period? Forget it. The second period? Maybe they’ll show up. The third period? That’s when they become the Furious Rallies. The only reason the Wild have posted four points using this formula is because goalie Devan Dubnyk has spent the early season doing his best Ken Dryden impersonation.

The Wild were outshot 14-5 in the first period of a 4-1 loss at Colorado in their opener and the excuse was it was just one game. Then they were outshot 9-5 in the opening period of a 2-1 shootout loss to Vegas in their home opener and their flat effort couldn’t be explained away as easily. Minnesota woke up long enough to have a 16-11 first-period shot advantage in a 4-3 overtime win over Chicago but the Blackhawks still owned much of the period. And then the Wild were outshot 20-5 on Saturday against Carolina and everyone, including the fans, seemed apathetic.

“I can’t explain it,” said Bruce Boudreau, a quality coach who deserves better than this. “They’ve been warned every which way but loose. (We) show videos about first periods, explained what the other teams are like in the first period, what the records are. Obviously, other teams are coming out hungrier than we are at this stage.”

Owner Craig Leipold said he felt there were only “tweaks” needed he hired Paul Fenton to replace Chuck Fletcher as his general manager after the Wild again was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last spring. Anyone who has watched this team for an extended period, realized long ago that this team needs far more than tweaks.

There is talent but there came a point where it was clear this collection just wasn’t going to work. Boudreau has been a good enough coach to get them into the playoffs but this team lacks true leadership and isn’t a good fit together. Fenton, though, has the luxury of time to observe and what’s he’s seeing now is a team that appears to be ready to go off the cliff of relevance.

The last couple of years, the frustration has been that the Wild’s younger players hadn’t developed into difference-makers and the veterans weren’t often enough pulling their weight. But until now there was a feeling this team did have talent to skate with many teams. No more. The Avalanche, Golden Knights and Hurricanes have skated circles around them. The Blackhawks simply aren’t that good anymore but they have Stanley Cups to show for their efforts.

The Wild had a 1980s promotion night on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center. It was fitting considering the Wild looked as if it was playing 1980s style hockey, while Carolina decided to play the speedy 2018 version.

“I don’t have a fountain of youth pill,” Boudreau said when asked about the speed other teams bring. “We are what we are out there but we’ve got to get a … we’re going to be not the fastest team, but we can be a quicker team. And if we’re a quicker team we get to loose pucks a little quicker and they don’t have possession all night long.

“And if we make passes tape-to-tape, all of a sudden we look like a faster team. But right now we’re getting pucks and the defense can’t find the forwards, forwards aren’t getting open for the defensemen to give them pucks and consequently you’re losing it and you’re going the other way. The first two periods were actually embarrassing.”

Boudreau is right.

The Wild was outshot 36-9 in the first two periods on Saturday before closing that gap to 18-14 in the third period. Thanks to Dubnyk, the Wild rallied turned into The Furious Rallies to take a 4-3 lead on Mikael Granlund’s goal at 15 minutes, 47 seconds of the third. Just as Vegas did a week earlier, Carolina tied it at 18:51 on Justin Williams’ goal with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.

This set up a 3-on-3 overtime. Jason Zucker, the rare speedy player on the Wild, had given them a win over Chicago in that format on Thursday but Carolina possessed too much speed for Minnesota. Watching Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter on the ice together in 3-on-3 was painful.

How those three were allowed on the ice together is difficult to understand but watching them on the ice at the same time made it look as if the Wild was putting out an old-timers lineup against Carolina’s modern-day attack.

“It should be concerning,” Parise said of the speed difference between the Wild and their opponents. “One game is one game but now I think you’re starting to see a little bit of a pattern. It should be pretty alarming.”

So when does it end? Or does it?

One of the main storylines coming out of Saturday was the fact that referees Steve Kozari and Furman South gave Carolina nine power plays. Kozari and South, who put Minnesota on five power plays, appeared to have little clue but only the biggest Wild fan would have ignored the fact that the Wild spent another game looking like a mess and it was only because of Dunbyk that Minnesota didn’t lose in regulation.

“In a realistic world, you’re happy you got a point out of that,” Boudreau said. “If it wasn’t for Devan Dubnyk, he’s been our No. 1 star in all four games that he’s played. Should we have won when we were in position of winning those two games, when they pulled the goalie and scored the extra goal? Yeah. But we probably shouldn’t have been in that position to start off with. … (Dubnyk) is out of this world right now.”

Eventually, he’s going to need some help or Wild players can start making plans to hit the golf course a day after the regular season ends.

“I don’t know,” Parise said of the Wild’s awful starts. “We’ve got to figure that out, though. I don’t know. It’s almost as if we’re surprised by teams that are fast. It’s like we’re not ready for it or whatnot. They were all over us right away and we couldn’t even connect a pass getting up the ice. It was not very pretty.”

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-slow-old-big-trouble-wild-look-washed-team/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-slow-old-big-trouble-wild-look-washed-team/Zulgad’s 3 Wild thoughts: Suter impresses, Zucker produces, Greenway finds a homehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/WWrTJLwLAJc/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgads-3-wild-thoughts-suter-impresses-zucker-produces-greenway-finds-home/#respondFri, 12 Oct 2018 04:06:52 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=457637ST. PAUL — One game after giving up the tying goal in the final minute of the third period in an eventual shootout loss to Vegas, the Wild flipped the script on Thursday night in…

]]>ST. PAUL — One game after giving up the tying goal in the final minute of the third period in an eventual shootout loss to Vegas, the Wild flipped the script on Thursday night in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild, playing shorthanded but with goaltender Devan Dubnyk pulled, got a goal from Ryan Suter at 19 minutes, 37 seconds of the third to tie the score and then win it on Jason Zucker’s second goal of the game at 3:25 of overtime.

It’s difficult to get too excited about a victory, or a loss for that matter, only three games into a season, but after the Wild had put together two largely apathetic performances in losing to Colorado and Vegas, getting two points against a Central Division rival obviously felt good.

“If this is how the year is going to be, I won’t have any hair at the end of it,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau joked. “I hope (this game) was a determination that they just didn’t want to lose. They knew after the first period that, even though they played a good last five minutes of the first period, they weren’t right there. (They were) dipping their toe in the water again and letting the other team determine how the game was being played. Then when we get down, like in the third periods of the previous two games, we started playing a lot better.”

Here are three thoughts from the Wild’s first victory of the season.

Suter’s best game

Suter earned the second assist on the Wild’s first goal — that cut the Blackhawks lead to 2-1 — in the second period and then scored the tying goal from in front and had another second assist on the overtime winner.

Asked if it was the veteran defenseman’s best game so far, Broudeau didn’t hesitate. “By far,” he said, before adding, “I don’t want to say by far because then he’ll get mad at me. But it was his best game.”

Suter, who led all skaters by logging 26:37 of ice time, is returning from a broken right fibula that limited his activity during the offseason. He did not get into a game until the Wild’s second-to-last preseason game.

Suter appeared to be more aggressive than usual on Thursday, driving to the front of the net. “I think on all three of our goals (in regulation) I was down pretty close to the top of the crease,” he said. “It was late in the period on the one, the other one it was kind of a broken play and then the last one (was) desperation. Just trying to get to the net and try to help out a little bit.”

It was the 11th career three-point game for Suter. He now has 496 career points in 994 career games. Suter will become only the 50th NHL defenseman all-time to reach the 500-point milestone and play in 1,000 games.

Zucker follows through

Zucker said after the loss to Vegas that the Wild’s top players needed to start doing more. That turned out to be more than lip service as the speedy winger scored his first two goals of the season, added an assist, had a game-high 10 shots on goal and was a plus-4. Zucker’s shots on goal represented a career high.

Zucker set up center Eric Staal on a goal at 13:19 of the second period and then scored off a Staal assist at 19:57 of the second to tie the score at 2-2.

“A lot of guys played really well tonight,” Zucker said. “I don’t think it’s the greatest start we’ve had, but it was great for us to comeback. It showed a lot from our older guys, our leadership here, to get that goal at the end.”

Greenway on the move

Jordan Greenway opened the season playing center and began Wednesday night at that spot between Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle. But in the second period Boudreau moved Greenway to the right wing with Staal and Zucker and switched Joel Eriksson Ek from the wing on that line to the center spot with Niederreiter and Coyle.

Greenway got his first point with a secondary assist on Zucker’s first goal, and Boudreau liked what he saw from the 6-foot-6, 227-pound rookie.

“We thought he was thinking too much at center,” Boudreau said. “When he played in the playoffs last year, he just played wing and played. (After the move to wing), it was almost like, ‘What a weight off my shoulders, I don’t have to play down low.’

“Like the second goal (by Chicago), he lost the draw, he’s worried about faceoffs, and was all over the place a little bit. Ek is a natural centerman and I thought he was looking good in the first period on that line with the forechecking and that. But I wanted him back in the middle.”

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgads-3-wild-thoughts-suter-impresses-zucker-produces-greenway-finds-home/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgads-3-wild-thoughts-suter-impresses-zucker-produces-greenway-finds-home/Lou Nanne Podcast: Lou has a never before told story.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/jTpDtDBM4h0/
http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-never-told-story/#respondFri, 12 Oct 2018 01:44:29 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=457633Lou Nanne talks with Judd Zulgad and tells some of his favorite hockey stories, including one he has never told until now, and explains how he ended up playing a key role in the NHL-WHA…

]]>http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-never-told-story/feed/0http://www.1500espn.com/mackey-judd/2018/10/lou-nanne-never-told-story/Zulgad: Cause for concern: Wild coach searching for answers only two games into seasonhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/1500espn/sportswire/wild/~3/u_WwQf32gKI/
http://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/10/zulgad-cause-concern-wild-coach-searching-answers-two-games-season/#respondSun, 07 Oct 2018 04:59:09 +0000http://www.1500espn.com/?p=456848ST. PAUL — The Wild had every reason to come out flying in their home opener on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center. A mostly lethargic, and largely inexcusable, performance in a 4-1 loss in…

]]>ST. PAUL — The Wild had every reason to come out flying in their home opener on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.

A mostly lethargic, and largely inexcusable, performance in a 4-1 loss in their opener on Thursday in Colorado provided plenty of incentive for the Wild to show up for three periods against the defending Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights. Instead, the Wild again looked like a team that had played 60 games and was in desperate need of a break.

The result was a 2-1 shootout loss to the Golden Knights that ended when former Wild winger Erik Haula beat Devan Dubnyk with a shot that overpowered the Minnesota goalie. Dubnyk deserved far better considering how well he had played in stopping 41 shots, but it also was fitting that the Wild didn’t get two points considering how little support they gave their goalie.

The Wild outshot Vegas 14-13 in the third period, but otherwise looked largely disinterested in getting outshot 25-13 through the first two periods. This included a second consecutive horrendous middle period in which it looked like many members of the home team would have preferred to be doing anything other than playing hockey.

“Usually the home opener it should go almost the other way,” Wild center Mikko Koivu said when asked the lack of urgency for two periods. “You should be there right away at the first. I don’t know, I thought we were a little nervous with the puck and a little slow for the first two periods. Why is that? I have no answer for that right now. But you’re right, it’s something that you need in this league in order to win a hockey game. Usually you’ve got to have that pretty much 60-minute game and, for sure, there were ups and downs but we were a little flat.”

A little? Make that a lot.

“Of course, it concerns me,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “You want to come out and jump out and have a 3-0 lead right off the bat. It hasn’t happened yet, so we’ll look at the tapes of both games, we’ll compare them, we’ll see why. I don’t have an answer for you right now. Maybe it’s they want to make everything perfect, but the one thing I found out in this league right now is you’ve got to skate. If you’re not skating you’re left in the dust. We tried to make too many plays standing still in the first two periods.”

Dubnyk has given up only three goals in two games — the Avalanche had two empty-netters and Vegas’ second goal was in the shootout — but the Wild only has one point to show for it. If it weren’t for Dunbyk’s brilliance on Saturday night they still would be sitting on zero points.

“(Dubnyk) was fantastic,” Wild winger Jason Zucker said. “He was the only reason that we didn’t lose that game 10-0.”

Zucker played a role in the Wild not getting a point Saturday. With Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury pulled for an extra attacker late in the third period — Minnesota held a 1-0 lead thanks to Matt Dumba’s slapshot at 9:23 of the first period — Zucker decided to shoot for the empty net instead of trying to work the puck out of his zone. Zucker’s shot missed the net and resulted in an icing.

That enabled Jonathan Marchessault to find Max Pacioretty in the circle to the right of Dubnyk. Pacioretty blasted the puck by Dubnyk to tie the score at 18:29. Zucker, like Koivu, also later failed to get a shot on goal during the shootout.

“(The six-on-five situations are) something else we have to fix,” Boudreau said. “It was something that bothered us in the last part of last year, too. I think we got scored on twice in the last two minutes with the lead and that was too easy of a goal. We’ll have to look at it and fix that before Thursday’s game.”

The Wild will take Sunday off and then have three days of practice before playing host to Chicago on Thursday. Boudreau’s biggest concern has to be figuring out how to get a complete game from his team. Right now, the Wild look slow, old and disinterested. It’s only two games in, but in the incredibly competitive Western Conference a run like this could prove fatal to a season.

Boudreau did not sound angry in his postgame comments on Saturday but rather like a guy searching for answers. The Wild’s disappearing act is all too familiar for many but it’s even surprising for them to do it this early in the season.

“I’ve got to figure it out,” Boudreau said. “I wish I had the answer right now but they … right now I think we’ve got to … I don’t know. I’ve got to figure it out. Obviously, we can’t win a lot of hockey games with one-goal games. … Every game this year is going to be a battle like this. We’ve got to find ways when we get the opportunities to put them in and we had opportunities in the third period but we just didn’t put them in.”

That meant Dubnyk’s outstanding performance was wasted.

“He’s seeing the puck,” Boudreau said. “Touch wood, we don’t want it to stop. But two years ago he had this kind of game right until March, where he’d win us hockey games on his own. Right now, he’s playing as well as anybody. To have only one point and his goals-against is 1.5 is not fair to him.”

Boudreau is right. It wasn’t fair to Dubnyk.

It also wasn’t fair to the 19,077 who showed up at Xcel Energy Center expecting a spirited opening-night performance and instead saw what appeared to be a largely uninterested group of players wearing the home green.